TAZ said:
I also know for a fact that not cleaning them will eventually induce a failure of some sort. The peace of mind I have from taking the 10 minutes to clean is time well spent for me.
UPSguy said:
there seems to be this great badge of honor type thing by saying my gun has worked and i haven't cleaned it in 15000 rounds.
*SNIP*
I also shoot competitively. If the highest round count I am going to encounter at a match is 300 rounds it really doens't matter that I am can shoot 1500 rounds with no issues, that is way past 300.
Yeah, not cleaning them will result in a failure. However it is NOT a 10 minute process if you shoot a lot. It also isn't necessarily badge of honor, but just something you know from practical need. Because not everyone just shows up and shoots.
First off, the gun isn't the only thing you ahve to clean. You have to clean the mags too. ESPECIALLY if you get any carbon build up on them like you can in a 1911. Each mag takes about 4-5 minutes unless it has stubborn buildup anywhere, then it is about 7-8.
then you have rifles and shotguns, which are not 10 minute jobs if done right, especially the !@!(@#*!@((* shotguns.
During the busy season, I may have shot enough that I've got the following invenory to apply TLC to. This is a typical June, the worst month for me.
1 1911 about 350 rds
7 mags
1 M&P about 800-900 rds
7 mags
1 AR about 200 rds
5 mags
1 shotgun about 80 rds
1 buckmark about 200rds
4 mags
1 10/22 no less than 200 rds, but can be as much as 2500 rounds depending on how many people wind up using it.
5 mags (NOT 5 minute job each, try more like 10-15)
Assuming everything started clean, which is a BIG assumption, if I did them all at the end of the month, that'd be about 90 minutes for cleaning the guns, and about 2 hours for all the magazines.
If I cleaned the guns used after every match, that'd be at LEAST 205 minutes speant cleaning guns and mags assuming I didn't participate in any side-matches with centerfire pistols.
Knowing when things fail, given how much I shoot them, I know I need to clean my 10/22 mags once a year, my 10/22 twice a year, my shotgun only about twice a year, my ar 2-3 times a year depending on number of side-matches, My M&P mags and pistol about every two months, my 1911 once a year, my 1911 mags once a year, my buckmark once a year, and my buckmark mags about once every two years.
Given that in that same month I have to design at least one stage, do 3 days of dedicated ROing, 2 days of dedicated match setup, spend about 20 hours "shooting" matches where I'll do setup, teardown, run the timer, and score. Then there is at LEAST anoth 2 hours of score entry, calculation, and posting. Given that I'm one of the more active volunteers, doing the anal-retentive cleaning between stages or every night just isn't happening. There is no "between stages", and at night I go home, fall over, and sleep like I'm dead.
On top of THAT, I have to load all the centerfire pistol ammo. About 4-5 hours minimum.
And that's jsut the shooting stuff. I don't get paid for any of that. Real life takes time too, and frankly, there's only 7 days in a week.
<- my wife when I start scheduling June each year
:roll: <- me somewhere around the 9th of june wonderng why the heck I keep on doing all this.
Tactically speaking, only cleaning guns when they become too nasty, or are going to become unreliable averages out to about one dinner or a movie with the wife per month. Which keeps her form looking like